Monday, January 14, 2019

14th Jan

14th
Makar Sankranti is celebrated today. The sun has entered Cape of Capricorn and is Uttarayan from today. It heralds the beginning of the end of winter and arrival of summer.
I fondly remember to have taken my widow mother-in-law to Sangam for a dip on the day in 1976. The boat had only two of us and the boatman. We had dip in the extremely cold waters of the confluence of Ganga,Yamuna and mystical Saraswati. On return back home, she blessed me profusely for taking her to Sangam on the auspicious day.
I had been deputed by the Government of Assam in 1976 with a team to assist the Kumbh Mela administration in its management. We provided round the clock duty in the control room for the benefit of people coming from Assam needing help in their own language.
I had first dip in 1954 when I had accompanied parents to Allahabad. There was big stampede in which quite a few people had died The stampede occurred when Jawahar Lal Nehru came to Sangam. I remember to have seen him at that time from a distance of about 100 metres. His wistful face with smile is still fresh in my mind. No wonder he enchanted Edwina.We also got pushed around in the melee. My mother ,I remember, had become quite panicky and almost fainted. Father and others of the group (who had come with us from Fatehpur) were not so much perturbed. I was tangled among them. This was for about 10 minutes. Situation eased after crowd  ran helter  skelter when Nehru, others accompanying him and the caravan of their vehicles crossed the area. I was about 14 year old at that time.
Quotable Quotes :"Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it." Charles R. Swindoll  

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